Report Links Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor Head to Hamas

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, one of the primary information sources relied upon by journalist Nicholas Kristof in a New York Times op-ed, is headed by a Hamas member against whom Israeli security forces issued an administrative detention order. This was detailed in a report released Wednesday by the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry.

The op-ed accuses Israeli security forces of committing widespread rape and sexual offenses against Palestinian prisoners and includes an account of an unnamed Gaza journalist who claims Israel trains dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners. Israel's foreign ministry denounced the op-ed as one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press.

The ministry also condemned the New York Times decision not to publish the findings of Israel's Civil Commission into Hamas's systemic violence during and since the October 7 massacre. The Diaspora Ministry report focuses on Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, which is cited throughout the op-ed's discussion of sexual abuse.

Monitor is registered in Switzerland and operates out of Geneva. It presents itself as a regional human rights body focused on the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Its operations are overwhelmingly focused on the Palestinian arena and anti-Israel activity.

The organization works through field documentation, submission of documents to UN mechanisms and promotion of legal proceedings in the international arena. Euro-Med provided the South African legal team at the International Court of Justice with evidentiary infrastructure to support claims of genocide by Israel, including documentation of mass graves and evidence of alleged damage to the healthcare system in Gaza.

Euro-Med operates the WikiRights project in the Gaza Strip that targets young Palestinian men and women. It provides them with in-depth training in human rights research and documentation as well as professional editing on Wikipedia. The Diaspora Ministry report states that Euro-Med promotes allegations of systematic sexual violence and calls for Israel's inclusion on a UN blacklist.

The founder and chairman of the organization is Ramy Abdu. An administrative detention order was issued against him in November 2020 under the Counter-Terrorism Law due to his activities as a board member of IPalestine, which Israel designated as a terrorist organization affiliated with Hamas.

The seizure order expired in August 2022. In a post published on 31 January 2026, Abdu wrote that Israel will continue to kill and displace Palestinians under any circumstances and that resistance must never lay down its arms. In a post published on 31 May 2025, Abdu wrote that what Israel has done justifies a million October 7ths.

Other members of the organization's leadership and senior officials have expressed positions that include support for or justification of narratives identified with Hamas. Former board chair Mazen Kahel appears on a 2013 list published by Israel of Hamas’s main operatives and institutions in Europe.

Richard Falk, chair of the organization’s board of trustees, said in an October 2025 article that labeling Hamas as a terrorist organization is an obstacle to a political solution and that the events of October 7 should be framed as an act of Palestinian resistance.

Chikli said it is regrettable that The New York Times falls victim time and again to the Palestinians’ wholesale lies. The minister stated that the Euro-Med organization cited by the newspaper is headed by a Hamas member and terrorist involved in the Gaza Tribunal initiatives.

Director General of the Diaspora Ministry Avi Cohen-Scali said the New York Times is providing a platform for the ideology of a murderous terrorist organization. The report reveals a method of operation that feeds lies, ideological agendas and incitement against the State of Israel in an attempt to shape an anti-Israel and antisemitic narrative.

The New York Times building is seen on May 06, 2026 in New York City.